Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Future of Travel

Ever wondered when we will be able to take a holiday in space, move our homes to Mars, or travel at hypersonic speeds from one end of the Earth to the other?

CNN Future Summit, hosted by Richard Quest, is a landmark programme that will explore how science and technology will eventually shape our future.

Quest will be in Singapore again next week to conduct the CNN Future Summit: World in Motion live.

The programme will focus on the future of travel, whether it’s on the ground, in the air, or into the final frontier, space itself.

He will be joined by four CNN Future Summit Nominating Committee members – Buzz Aldrin, a member of the first manned lunar landing by Apollo 11 in 1969, and the second human to set foot on the Moon; Anousheh Ansari, the world’s first female space tourist, who recently spent a week in the International Space Station; Lino Guzzella, a professor of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, who is an expert on fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles; and futurist Ian Pearson.

According to Quest, the whole objective of CNN Future Summit is to focus on what the world might look like in 35 to 45 years time, and they chose subjects with a realistic possibility that they could happen.

“When I was growing up, we never had mobile phones. The DVD and even the computers were not invented yet! It was all magical and out of this world! Those are the kinds of things we want,” said Quest.

“And that is why for this next one in Singapore, we went for the future of travel and are dividing that very firmly to four areas – space tourism, space exploration, future of aviation, and renewable energy sources – because we believe they are realistic issues to look at, where we will see definite progress over the next 40 odd years.”

With the participation of the four panellists, Quest is confident that the segment will be an insightful and interesting one.

“We’ve these four people who have achieved an enormous amount individually; but collectively, their wisdom will give us an insight into where we are going to go.

“Having said that, we want them to think out of the box, and not just come up with silly little ideas to which you and I will say ‘That’s not going to happen’!” said Quest. “After all, I do not believe that we can even think about going on holiday to Mars, or even the moon in our lifetime. However, in our lifetime, we might see some new form of supersonic transport that will allow me to take a long weekend in Sydney, or something like that.”

CNN Future Summit: World in Motion premieres on CNN (Astro Channel 90) at 6pm on Nov 23. For more information about the programme and to participate in ongoing discussions about the subjects raised, visit the official website at http://edition.cnn.com/CNNI/Programs/futuresummit